🐤 All hail the king

🏈 NFL Update: NFL Week 1 begins with the L.A. Rams vs. the Buffalo Bills. Matthew Stafford threw three interceptions and the Rams were unable to stop a second-half surge by Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills in a 31-10 season-opening loss at SoFi Stadium on Thursday night.

💬 Little Green Bubbles: The conspicuous green bubbles that let iPhone users know they’re texting with an Android user have been the subject of countless debates in recent years. For Apple CEO Tim Cook, however, it’s not enough to convince him to adopt the so-called RCS messaging system. He recently explained: “I don’t hear our users asking that we put a lot of energy in on that at this point.” Cook offered one option for Apple adherents who want a smoother texting experience with an Android user: “Buy your mom an iPhone.”

📣 Too Old To Serve: Joe Biden is already the oldest president in U.S. history — and he’s still in his first term. Donald Trump was only a few years behind him and about one-third of U.S. senators are over 70 years old. Although it might draw accusations of ageism, there’s a growing trend among Americans to favor some sort of age limit for elected officials. A recent poll found that a clear majority of respondents, regardless of party affiliation, would support a measure that would prevent people over a certain age from holding public office.

📈 Prepare For A Hike: Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell prepared Americans for possible pain as experts try to tackle runaway inflation. After previous increases to the nation’s interest rate aimed at bringing down soaring consumer prices, Powell signaled that it could go up by three-quarters of a percent later this month. Even though that might help cool inflation, it might also lead to job losses while making it even more expensive to borrow money.

Queen Elizabeth II was the longest-serving monarch in British history, but her 70-year reign came to an end on Thursday when she died at her residence in Scotland. The Royal Family released a statement confirming: “The Queen died peacefully at Balmoral this afternoon. The King and The Queen Consort will remain at Balmoral this evening and will return to London tomorrow.”

Her son ascended to the throne to become King Charles III upon her death. While the queen’s legacy is mixed, there is no denying that she has left an indelible mark on England and much of the world since her coronation in 1952. Here are a few important moments from her lengthy queenship:

• In 1965, 20 years after World War II ended, the queen visited Germany in a visit that has since been interpreted as a key moment in the re-emergence of that nation as a world power.
• Five years later, she broke with tradition by getting up close and personal with the public during a walkabout in Sydney, Australia. Prior to this event, royals had generally only been accessible from a distance.
• Queen Elizabeth described 1992 as “an annus horribilis” — or horrible year — after three of her children announced separations or divorces from their respective spouses. The year was also marred by a serious fire at Windsor Castle that damaged dozens of rooms.

There’s plenty more about her monumental life that will go down in history books for generations to come, but one thing is certain: the people of England and her supporters around the world are only starting a grieving process that is sure to last for a long time.

A growing number of states and localities are passing laws that require at least certain businesses to be more transparent about how much they’re paying employees for specific jobs.

Most recently, California lawmakers approved such a rule that will mandate all companies with more than 100 employees to share salary ranges in their job listings. What makes this proposal different is that it also mandates transparency regarding pay gaps along racial and gender lines.

Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom didn’t immediately announce whether he intends to sign the bill into law, but he has until the end of the month to do so.

Among the major corporations that would have to comply with such a requirement are Google’s parent company Alphabet, Facebook’s parent company Meta, and the Walt Disney Company.

In December, council members in New York City approved a measure designed to require employers to post their pay ranges for all job listings and in certain other locations.

More than a dozen states have passed laws making it illegal for potential employers to ask applicants about how much they made at previous jobs. In even more places, officials have instituted legal protections for employees who decide to discuss their salaries with coworkers.

These days there seems to be no end to the issues and problems that can lead to stress and anxiety. While some people rely on addictive or self-destructive habits to cope with their inner turmoil, there might be a much simpler — and healthier — option.

Several studies seem to show that getting out in nature and taking an hour-long walk might reduce activity in the stress-processing area of your brain. It’s worth noting, however, that the same results don’t seem to be found in folks who walk in urban or densely crowded environments.

So far, the available data is limited to a few dozen volunteers who were studied before and after they took a walk in a forest. That information was compared to the results of the same individuals before and after taking a stroll along city streets.

Here’s What They Found

It appears that there was lower activity in the brain’s amygdala after the nature walk, but one researcher who helped author the study said it’s too early to draw any concrete conclusions.

Sonja Sudimac explained that “the hen-and-egg problem could not be disentangled, namely whether nature actually caused the effects in the brain or whether the particular individuals chose to live in rural or urban regions.”

Simone Kuhn, another researcher connected to the study, noted that the “results support the previously assumed positive relationship between nature and brain health, but this is the first study to prove the causal link.”